latter on
this earthly sphere, and damned her reputation.

Von Francius was a clever man, but he made a grand mistake that night,
unless he were desirous of making his protegee as uncomfortable as
possible. How could those ladies feel otherwise than insulted at seeing
the man of ice so suddenly attentive and bland to a nobody, an upstart,
and a beautiful one?

The probe continued, and still she sat alone and unspoken to, her only
acquaintance or companion seeming to be Fraeulein Sartorius, with whom
she had come in. I saw how, when von Francius called upon her to do her
part, and the looks which had hitherto been averted from her were now
turned pitilessly and unwinkingly upon her, she quailed. She bit her
lip; her hand trembled. I turned to Eugen with a look which said
volumes. He sat with his arms folded, and his face perfectly devoid of
all expression, gazing straight before him.

Miss Wedderburn might have been satisfied to the full with her revenge.
That was a voice! such a volume of pure, exquisite melody as I had
rarely heard. After hearing that, all doubts were settled. The gift
might be a blessing or a curse--let every one decide that for himself,
according to his style of thinking--but it was there. She possessed the
power which put her out of the category of commonplace, and had the most
melodious "Open, Sesame!" with which to besiege the doors of the courts
in which dwell artists--creative and interpretative.

The performance finished the gap between her and her companions. Their
looks said, "You are not one of us." My angry spirit said, "No; you can
never be like her."

She seemed half afraid of what she had done when it was over, and shrunk
into herself with downcast eyes and nervous quivering of the lips at the
subdued applause of the men. I wanted to applaud too, but I looked at
Eugen. I had instinctively given him some share in the affairs of this
lovely creature--a share, which he always strenuously repudiated, both
tacitly and openly.

Nevertheless, when I saw him I abstained from applauding, knowing, by a
lightning-quick intuition, that it would be highly irritating to him. He
showed no emotion; if he had done, I should not have thought the
occasion was anything special to him. It was his absurd gravity, stony
inexpressiveness, which impressed me with the fact that he was
moved--moved against his will and his judgment. He could no more help
approving both of her and her voice than he could he